Where to find peach dishes away from the Weatherford festival crowd
Not all the peaches are in Weatherford this weekend.
Fireside Pies always has a Peach Festival summer special, and this year it's a peach-pecan-arugula salad.
If I had my way, Fort Worth would host an event celebrating local peaches and pecans. It's too bad the two seasons don't overlap, but the two regional crops always fit together on a plate.
Fireside Pies combines them in the salad, and also serves peach tea and a peach crisp dessert.
Fireside Pies changed hands again in February, but it still has the same management and chefs. The Richardson-based Golden Chick restaurants bought the pizza restaurants, including the Crockett Row and Grapevine locations.
Both locations now serve a $12 express lunch pizza with a small salad until 4 p.m. daily.
The Crockett Row restaurant opened in 2010 — yes, eight years ago — and switched names briefly to Thirteen Pies, then changed back.
Both locations are open for lunch and dinner daily at 2949 Crockett St., Fort Worth, 817-769-3590, or 1285 S. Main St., Grapevine, 817-416-1285; firesidepies.com.
▪ The 34th annual Parker County Peach Festival is Saturday, and a reminder: Go early.
It opens at 8 a.m. If you wait too long, you'll run into big crowds and empty peach baskets.
More than 40,000 people went last year. If it's hot, try Zeno's, Vintage Grill or one of the other restaurants around the courthouse square.
The festival is along Palo Pinto, Spring, Dallas and Church streets west of the courthouse. Park in shuttle lots at the old high school, 1007 S. Main St., or the college, 225 College Park Drive.
It's a $5 ticket; 817-596-3801, PeachFestivalTX.com.
Olenjack headed back to Arlington
Eagle Mountain Tavern, the comeback restaurant for chef Brian Olenjack, has closed.
The name "tavern" didn't go over with family diners, part-owner Charlie Parker said. The building also has its idiosyncrasies — it's cavern-like and loud.
The Tavern also had new competition from the relocated Boo-Ray's, always busy, and the new Texas Pit at Eagle Mountain Lake, a lakefront barbecue restaurant.
Parker said he hopes to bring Olenjack back to Arlington soon in a new venture.
A nearby restaurant, Flight on Eagle Mountain Lake, also closed recently due to a landlord dispute.
85ºC warms up breakfast
The newly arrived 85ºC Bakery Cafe has added … barbecue?
Not really. But the new BBQ Sausage Roll is very similar to a Czech klobasnek, with a criss-cross glaze of sweet barbecue sauce on top.
The 85ºC Bakery Cafe also serves a spicy sausage-cheese roll with hot sauce, along with its basic cheddar-mozzarella cheese dog.
If you haven't tried 85ºC Bakery Cafe, it has a new $2 coffee special mornings if you buy food.
The 85ºC started in Taiwan and is often described as Euro-Asian fusion.
It's open from 8 a.m. daily until 9 p.m.; 628 Harrold St. (in the Alta at Left Bank), 717 817-882-8585, 85cbakerycafe.com.
This story was originally published July 10, 2018 at 11:25 PM.